


dear rival, won't you sweet talk me to hell

by ningningbin



Category: ENHYPEN (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Heroes & Heroines, M/M, THIS IS A PROMPOSAL FIC, VILLAIN X HERO PROM, Villains, hero in training park sunghoon, i'm sorry i literally need to stop cursing, not too many kisses we're keeping this G, school of heroes and villains essentially, seriously trust me this is all fluff, side JayWon, side ramyeonz, side seungki, sunghoon pines after sunoo silently, t for cursing, this is the fic i wrote to repent for all the angst i've dropped lately, villain in training kim sunoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:08:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29532453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ningningbin/pseuds/ningningbin
Summary: Kim Sunoo's not your conventional villain—in fact, Sunghoon thinks the evilest thing the boy's probably done his entire life is turning his promposal down a grand total of five times (to date).Well, Sunghoon's just going to give it a sixth try anyway.
Relationships: Kim Sunoo/Park Sunghoon, Lee Heeseung/Sim Jaeyun | Jake, Park Jongseong | Jay/Yang Jungwon
Comments: 23
Kudos: 131





	dear rival, won't you sweet talk me to hell

**Author's Note:**

> UHHHHHHHHH I WROTE THIS LAST NIGHT WHEN I REALIZED THAT IT WAS SUNSUN DAY TODAY??? I'm the worst sunnie every
> 
> anyway this will be the last fic u see from me in a long long time
> 
> please listen to the songs (click on the music notes!!) after the scene ends i promise they're all really good and very sunsun-ny
> 
> also, this is an au that calls for inversion of character so as u can see, sunghoon's more chaotic-reserved and sunoo is evil in a ball of sunshine.
> 
> even if u don't listen to all the songs, you HAVE to listen to the last one!!!
> 
> also, i asked niki up so he can be classmates with jungwon and sunoo and i aged yeonjun down so he still hasn't graduated. i love yeonki, if u can't tell, but i like the ship platonic i just wanted to give niki a prom date!!! omg are those spoilers oops-

Sunghoon clenches his jaw as he stares at the mega-sized box of chocolates he bought for Sunoo gets passed around the entire common room. Sunoo catches him looking, turns around and waves at him, his child-like grin radiating pure glee. From all across the room, Sunoo shouts at him, "Thanks for the chocolates, Sunghoon ssi! It's very kind of you to get a gift for everyone on Valentine's..." The older boy flinches at the use of formality, but he forces himself to return the smile anyway, even if it looks a little tight and unnatural.

Next to him, Jay nearly pushes him off the chair from all the jostling and nudging, muffle laughter still leaking through the fingers cupped over his mouth.

Sunghoon really wants to freeze his arm in that position and keep it like that for a week. Even as he _thinks_ about it, the frost creeps over his desk, turning the surface into a glassy mirror of sorts.

"Is he doing this on _purpose?"_ Heeseung's seated on the desk behind them, watching the show, clearly bemused as the scene unfolds before their eyes. Yeah, Sunghoon's life is a damn sitcom and he's the comic relief. "This is literally your fifth try and he's—"

"Distributing his own Valentine's gift to the rest of the class. This is freaking _gold_ ," Jay laughs, bending in half over his table, the laughter wreaking his whole body with violent tremors. " _Ohhhmygod_ I'm literally tearing up."

"Is this rejection? It feels like rejection," Sunghoon mumbles to himself, the second half of his monologue drowning in misery.

Heeseung, bless his soul, squeezes him on the shoulder and then pushes at his cheeks gently with the back of his hand. "Cheer up, Hoonie. Sunoo's a pretty popular guy around here—maybe he's just taking in his options? Proms _are_ a pretty big deal and he _is_ a villain."

"So?" Sunghoon collapses entirely onto his table, arms splayed out as he bemoans his wretched fate. "Has no one ever heard of enemies to lovers? _Rivals_ to allies? It's all they ever make movies about!"

"I'm telling you, you've been reading too much novels..." Jay shakes his head in disapproval, then jumps back in surprise when Sunghoon tilts his head upwards to glare at the blond.

"Park Jongseong, you better sleep with one eye open," he warns. "The day before your promposal to Jungwon, you bet I _will_ freeze your legs in your sleep and snap them right off."

His best friend wraps his arms protectively around his body and shivers. "Really, you sound and act more like a villain than Kim Sunoo does."

"He probably got sorted into the wrong school," Heeseung muses, all three heads turning to stare at the bumbling bee whizzing around their shared area to pass out individually-wrapped chocolates. Sunghoon feels his heart sink to a deeper level of agony every time he sees someone who's clearly _not_ Sunoo pop them into their gnarly mouths. The oldest sighs, "I've really never seen a supposed ' _villain'_ be so... _bubbly_ and nice. I don't think he's ever hurt a _flower."_

"He's hurt _our_ one and only flower 'Sunghoon _ssi'_ many times over," Jay points out, then ducks just in time as Sunghoon sends a disc of ice flying over his head. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"I have been since we first met," Sunghoon hisses, eyes narrowed with contempt. As Jay nurses his non-existent injury, Sunghoon cranes his neck behind to turn his attention to Heeseung instead. The boy's pulling at his red curls, bottom lip jutting out in concentration. "Are _you_ asking anyone out to prom?"

Heeseung gives this a thought, then a smile appears against his will, betraying his will to not answer.

" _Psh,"_ Sunghoon scoffs, "all that talk about how prom is a waste of time when we all know you're planning on asking Jake."

_"You're planning on asking Jake?"_

Sunghoon's head snaps back so quickly, he thinks he might've pulled a muscle. He holds his hand up to his nape and cradles the soreness blooming there, all the while trying to maintain his shattering dignity before his crush. Kim Sunoo stands before them, box of empty wrappers balanced perfectly on one hand despite its size. His eyes have lost all their usual glint of that amicable luster, and is instead replaced by an undercurrent of danger Sunghoon's never seen before. Suddenly, it's very clear why Sunoo's categorized as a villain—he looks like he'd choke Sunghoon on the spot right now, without a hint of remorse, and it's _very_ attractive. Ridiculously so.

"S-Sunoo, hi..." Sunghoon stumbles, tongue tripping.

The boy barely spares him a glance before he's drilling his stare into Heeseung's eyes again. "You're planning on asking Jake, you say?"

Heeseung awkwardly smiles, noting the change in the atmosphere. He looks around nervously, silently begging for some backup before realizing that both his friends are a pair of good-for-nothings. "It's just a silly thought you-you know. Like _whoosh,_ right? The kind of thing that appears one second and vanishes the next."

"So you're saying, you're not serious about it?"

"That was not,"—Heeseung chokes on his own spit in attempt to refute Sunoo but he keeps going anyway, which makes it all the more humiliating and straight-up sad to watch—"that was _not_ my intention. I promise you."

Sunoo quirks an eyebrow. "So that wasn't your intention but that was the way your mind processed it, correct? As a joke? My best friend's not a joke, you know."

"It was just a passing thought! I never would've gotten enough courage to actually ask him."

"Passing thought, hm?" Sunoo considers this, before his sweet smile makes a reappearance, the change taking place so quickly Sunghoon would've thought he conjured the whole scene up in his head if not for the two witnesses present sandwiching him. "Let's keep it that way, shall we? Now!" Sunoo drops the box onto the table and claps his hands together. "Anyone wants chocolates?"

He doesn't linger around for an answer before he strides away, right out the door.

Jay gives out a low whistle that doesn't come out smoothly. He gives Sunghoon a look, saying, "You've got your work cut out for you. And _you_." Heeseung's still perched at the edge, dazed and startled speechless. Jay pats his thigh in consolation. "Best avoid Jake at all costs so you don't incur Sunoo's wrath. He looked like he was ready to _kill_ you."

"He looks so beautiful..." Sunghoon exhales with a guttural cry tearing from his throat. He sounds like an animal caught in a trap. "He's _so_ fucking gorgeous and out of my league."

Jay's eyebrows meet in the middle with genuine concern. "Did you hear what I said? _He looks like he wants to kill us."_

"What difference does it make? It means he definitely knows that I was confessing the past five times. He's too cunning and smart to not catch on," he laments, stomping his feet down on the ground. Heeseung leans over his shoulder to peer down at the box, reaching in and shaking the wax paper. Behind Sunghoon, a bitter, empty laugh sounds.

"It's all empty," the older boy notes.

Jay slams his hand down on the table. "That boy is _pure evil."_

[ **♪** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-QmZpLWjHc&ab_channel=CristianFawkes)

"We can't just let him win like this," Jay is whispering to Sunghoon as they walk down the halls at super speed, _very_ late for Catchy Catchphrases (yes, that is an actual class) with Professor Fraise. "That boy of yours... he's _actually_ a villain at heart. I can't believe I'd been deceived by his pure, innocent looks for _years_ now. Like, are you kidding me? He's the devil incarnate! The bane of my existence! If he was already that worked up about Heeseung hyung _possibly_ asking Jake out, can you imagine what he'll do to my intestines once he knows I'm going to confess to Jungwon?"

" _Everyone_ is aware of your crush on Jungwon," Sunghoon answers and pushes his best friend away, irked that he's gotten so close in the midst of his explanation. He needs space to _think_ and work those cogs in his brains.

"My _intestines!_ He's going to rip them outta me and tie them in a ribbon!" Jay freaks, "And it doesn't make sense that he already knows that I like his best friend. He didn't go all _Sparta_ on me like he did with Heeseung hyung..."

He's drawing too near again. Sunghoon pauses in his steps to place his palm flat on Jay's face and frost it up, hoping it'd provide the same effect an ice bath would. Jay jerks back like he's been punched. "How'd that feel like?"

"Like I'd just been struck by lightning—what the hell, Hoon?"

"That's exactly what it'd take for Jungwon to even _look_ at you. Sunoo's not freaking out because he knows you don't even stand a chance with Yang Jungwon."

"That is _mean,"_ Jay opposes walking backwards so he can keep his eyes on Sunghoon's expression. " _Plus_ , following your logic, that'd mean that Sunoo sees some kind of weird potential between Heeseung and Jake. Which is, you know, laughable." He straightens up when he realizes that he's the only one laughing between the two of them, serious for once. "Wait. You really think they have more chemistry compared to my Jungwonnie and me?"

Sunghoon's features twist into utter disgust, like he's swallowing down his own acid-bile, and he intentionally bumps into Jay's shoulders as he overtakes his pace. " _Please,_ for the love of god, do not let me hear you say ' _Jungwonnie'_ ever again."

"I see why you like Sunoo. You're both as evil as they come."

He throws a smirk over his shoulder, "Thank you very much for the compliment."

"You're not giving up on him?" Jay asks, dumbfounded. He jogs to keep up with Sunghoon. By now, they've come to terms with the fact that they'll get into detention for being tardy anyway, and there's no real threat nipping on the heels of their feet to urge them to reach class faster. Besides, Sunghoon isn't done with last class's homework yet— _how do you find a catchphrase that rhymes with broccoli anyway...?_

"Are _you_ giving up on Jungwon?"

"No! And it's because I have a real chance with him. Statistically speaking. Sunoo's already rejected you _five_ times—in all equally brutal ways."

"Yeah, and I'm really, really still into him. More so than before."

[ **♪** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OblL026SvD4&ab_channel=Paramore)

They're about two weeks away from prom, and Sunghoon still hasn't conceived a single feasible idea that might be failsafe. Truthfully, he's starting to think there _aren't_ any failsafe ways to approach this. Sunoo's unpredictable, and everything a villain is not. On the outside. Which makes him twice as beguiling any person should ever have the right to be. He's pondering this again, brainpower half-occupied by thoughts of Sunoo when, out of the corner of his eye, he catches the glint of sunlight dancing off metal and he steps aside, very nearly avoiding being cleaved in half.

By a huge, oversized sword, bulky and ugly, but very evidently crafted from quality material. Its tip is buried deep into the ground, so sharp it's a clean wound on the earth, not a single mound of soil disturbed in the surrounding area.

A hand pulls him back and his entire body is jerked back into the swarming crowd of onlookers, pulsing with excitement.

Jay's to his right, tiny mouth pursed into a thin line, his lips disappearing from annoyance.

"What the hell is happening?" he seethes, not knowing why he has to lower his voice a cadence just for this strange looking pink-haired guy, dressed head-to-toe in metal armor still dripping with water. His hair, too, is thoroughly wet, like he's just taken a dip in the forest's lake and returned. He turns to Jay for an explanation, only to realize that the boy's fuming as well.

"He's got it," Jay finally squeaks dejectedly, his bravado escaping with the deflating of his chest. "You see that sword?"

"Yeah, and it's really ugly."

" _Ugly?_ Hoonie, have you been brushing up on your lore? That's the freaking _Excalibur!"_

Sunghoon's jaw drops, unhinged, as his eyes stray to the grip of the sword, only not recognizing the dull glow of the gold, persistent under decades' worth of dirt. The pink-haired boy stumbles in positioning a metal-clad foot on a conveniently-placed rock, and throws his hair back. "I, Choi Yeonjun, have been deemed worthy of the _Excalibur."_ He pauses to sneeze and sniffle, rather awkwardly, but it's saved by the gleaming legendary weapon in his hand that's finally found its new owner after too many years of searching. "And with this sword in hand, I'd like to ask you, Nishimura Riki, to the dance. Prom. But you know, _dancerhymesbetterwithhand."_

A boy with ashen blond hair slowly peels away from the crowd to entire the circle they've vacated, shy and slightly unsure. Sunghoon recognizes him immediately as the boy in Sunoo's class, knows that the latter calls the boy Niki rather affectionately.

Water slides off every metal part covering Yeonjun's body, and the damp parts of the rock glitter like crystals under the sun filtering through the dense canopy overhead.

"You don't have to say yes, please don't feel pressured to—"

Niki surges forward to wrap Yeonjun in a hug, even if the water soaks into his training shirt. The way he looks up at Yeonjun, with reverence written all over his face... Sunghoon's happy for them but he's also bitter.

"How are we supposed to propose now? When the bar is _this_ goddamned high," Jay whines beside him.

It's at this exact moment that Sunghoon catches a glimpse of a mop of familiar black hair in the assembly right behind Yeonjun, and it's freaking— _Kim Sunoo._

And he actually looks happy for Niki! _What?_

Without thinking much of it, Sunghoon's hands shoot up into the air, grabbing at fistfuls of nothingness and flailing them around in circles to catch the villain's attention. It does _more_ than grab Sunoo's attention, but he doesn't care. So long as Yeonjun and Niki don't feel disturbed in their moment, it's fine.

Sunoo's expression immediately turns stone-cold upon the meeting of their eyes, but Sunghoon doesn't feel discouraged. Not even a little bit. He's trying to tear through the crowds to get to the boy, and until he makes it there, he's stuck with communicating through exaggerated movements of his mouth, working hard to form the shapes of words.

" _You? And me?"_

Sunoo shrugs and shakes his head: _I can't hear you._ When Sunghoon emerges from the swelling mob, Sunoo's already long gone from the damn clearing.

[ **♪** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUU0xHiW2_0&ab_channel=Wallows)

"You're going to do it?" Sunghoon hounds Heeseung, who's taken to cupping his hands over his ears. "You're _actually_ going to attempt asking Jake out."

His hands, it seems, are not really that effective at acting as sound-blocking devices as they are at beckoning animals, because he still turns back to answer, "Why not? Niki is Sunoo's friend and Yeonjun escaped unscathed! Not a single wound!" Attired in a whole costume fresh out a Disney film, Heeseung adjusts the strings on his blouse in the mirror and asks, "How do I look? Like I'm about get the man of my dreams?"

"You have zero chemistry with him."

"We ate ramyeon together that one night and I have been hooked since. He makes a killer ramyeon."

Sunghoon offers him a smile. One that's cost him the lurching of his stomach. "He's a villain, mind you, I really don't doubt that he makes a _killer_ meal."

"Keep your prejudice to yourself, sweet cheeks—might I remind you that Sunoo is a villain as well..." Heeseung turns around and gives himself a final glance-over before he nods decidedly, patting his cheeks to bring in some color. There must be something about the lying crosscurrent of dangers that draw people in, because there's not one person in their friend group who isn't hopelessly head over heels in love for one. Sunghoon's gotta give himself the credit, though, because he was _the_ pioneer of crushing on villains. Years from now, when this is studied in _Lore_ textbooks (and for sure it would be, forbidden love is such a poignant, thought-provoking part of history), Sunghoon's picture would be smack-dab right there. Next to Sunoo's.

They make a very handsome couple.

"Ready? Let's go."

As much as he's complained about it, Sunghoon does obediently dog Heeseung out the door, admiring the older boy's princely looks. His hair glows the color of burnt copper under the sun, and the wind works in his favor as well, snaking in under his shirt to make the wide sleeves billow as he strides confidently down the hall towards the same clearing where Yeonjun's promposal to Niki happened. They have _Fairytale Endings_ next, and it's a joint class, so they're going to be meeting Jake from the villains' side.

As soon as they arrive, Sunghoon feels the lingering gazes of awe following Heeseung wherever he goes, even if he's hiding behind the shadows of ten other kids in front of him.

"Why are they all staring?" Heeseung asks him, nuding his elbow.

Jay arrives at the right time, swinging an arm each round his friends' shoulders. "Because you clean up nicely. I'm glad you're going through with this, Heeseung hyung. _And_ I'm very _delighted,_ _enchanted. Jubilant..._ and _thrilled_ , that your spirits are not dampened by a scowling pessimistic hero. _The_ most pessimistic hero the world will see when he graduates. I'm very proud of you—and you should be proud of yourself too."

"Piss off, Jay," Sunghoon scowls on cute and claws at his hand. "Swapping words out for more uncommon ones doesn't make you sound any smarter. And _you_ were the one who was freaking out about intestines being turned into ribbons, not me."

Their friend only _tsk_ s under his breath. "One can feel the overwhelming presence of your pessimism a mile away."

"What are you planning?" Heeseung asks, his curiosity genuinely piqued.

"Lads, have you watched _Love, Really?"_

"I think you mean _Love, Actually,"_ Sunghoon corrects with a roll of his eyes. He's also keeping them peeled at the same time, on the lookout for Jake. They're uncharacteristically early today, and the other students are only starting to show up now, arriving in small groups and cliques. Sunoo is nowhere to be found.

"No," Jay insists stubbornly, "I mean _Love, Really._ I know that because I watched them _both._ And _Love, Really,_ is actually just a rip-off of the original, but better. It's genius, because they used a _whiteboard._ Instead of a sketchbook."

Heeseung pulls back, already taking into account all the aspects of this theoretical, completely _delusional_ promposal that hasn't even happened yet. "But then you'd have these awkward pockets of silence where you have to erase and rewrite down all the things you want to say to him. I mean, the whole point of the sketchbook was to... _you know_ , actually have everything prepared beforehand..."

"Ah, but you _see,_ there's effort mixed with spontaneity, _spur-of-the-moment_ kinda beauty. It evokes... _tears_ when he realizes how sincere I'm being. Anyone can look up words in the dictionary beforehand and have everything ready to go before the confession, but not everyone will manage to execute it perfectly when their mind is muddled and in disarray over thoughts of how beautiful their crush looks right then and there..."

Sunghoon's appalled by the look that crosses Heeseung's face. "He actually makes a very good point there. Very, _how do you say this?_ Very worth thinking about..."

"You must be kidding—"

"There! That's your future right there, Heeseung!" Jay hollers, so loudly that almost every head in the glade snaps to the three of them. Including the four pairs of eyes all across the ring, where Sunoo's group has just arrived. Sunoo is glowering at Sunghoon with this dark promise of something along the lines of medieval torture because he knows what's coming. He _definitely_ does.

Jay doesn't give Heeseung space to retreat, because apparently, being shellshocked still doesn't excuse you from carrying out a promposal to a guy you have less than forty percent chance with. Okay, maybe Sunghoon is the one who's hope in love has trickled down to an all-time low, _but_ , how is it fair that he's the only one having trouble with his crush? It's not like he's _hoping_ for Heeseung's failure either, but he's a little bummed out from being rejected in every sense of the stupid word.

Biting his lip, he digs the toe of his boot into the soil, still damp from the light scattering of a drizzle waltzing through just this morning.

With a final cheer of, " _Go!"_ , Heeseung finds himself in the center of the newly formed circle, and the familiarity of the whole scene that parallels Yeonjun's promposal already has them whispering.

Heeseung clears his throat, doe eyes fluttering shut as he gives himself a silent pep-talk. His long eyelashes are fanned out over his cheekbones, skin smattered with freckles that stand out even more today. Sunghoon's pretty sure that everyone else has received blessings from a divine providence save for him at this point.

"Um, Jake Shim. Shim Jaeyoon— _sorry,"_ he chuckles nervously. Jake is slowly being nudged to the front of the lines, but his steps are still uncertain. Sunoo manages to catch Sunghoon's eyes and he mimics the slicing of his throat with his thumb. Sunghoon gulps, sweating so much, the perspiration beads endlessly on his hairline. One glance will confirm that he's even more anxious than the person _promposing_ now. "Your name is really pretty, I'm not sure which one I should call you with."

This elicits a chorus of " _awes"_ and general cooing that Sunghoon subconsciously finds himself joining in as well.

"Look, um, I've always thought that you looked like you were drawn straight out of a Disney animation. Be it the prince, the princess, whatever—you're just... so ethereal. This-this doesn't sound too romantic yet, does it?" Heeseung rubs at his nape, small smile hanging off his lips. "But I've liked you for quite some time, and I thought I shouldn't ask you out without that Disney touch to it, so..."

Heeseung raises his hands into the air, and for a couple of seconds that stretch on longer than they actually are, nothing happens. Until something does. From the woods to Jake's back, a doe emerges, eyes warm and wandering, wide with emotion. Its body is lithe, moving swiftly to hop over to Jake, nuzzling into the boy's outstretched arm. A second later, a golden retriever bursts out, wagging its tail enthusiastically at the applause breaking out all around them. Jake's smiling—he's _always_ smiling—when he squats down so that the dog could give him a hug, paws around his neck and all.

Tentatively, Heeseung stoops down, carding his fingers through the dog's fur absentmindedly. "Do-do you like it?"

Jake's lips stretch over his grin, his joy so unbridled that it warms Sunghoon up a little as well.

Jay bumps into him lightly. "You're smiling."

"Shut up."

"Yes, Heeseung, I really love it. Thank you so much."

"I'm going to take that as a yes, Jake. If you're going to shatter the illusion of my dreams, please do it now."

This draws out Jake's giggles, and his long brown hair's falling over his eyes when he affirms Heeseung's hopes with a tiny, " _Yes."_

"Normally, slow dancing in the woods entail a scene like this, but I'm going to have to save that for the actual prom. So you can't stand me up," Heeseung says smoothly, holding up a pinky finger that Jake gladly intertwines his around in a sacred promise.

"What a fairytale ending," Jay sighs, forever the romantic.

For Sunghoon, who's currently on the receiving end of Sunoo's withering scowl, maybe not so much.

[ **♪** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_2CDpZXqcY&ab_channel=SaintMotel)

Jay, being the good friend that he is, has thrown the responsibility of delaying Sunoo in the hallways while he experiments his weird promposal tactic on Jungwon to a very unwillingly willing Sunghoon. He's as wrecked with nerves as he is pumped full with anticipation for their interaction. Okay, so maybe, in comparison to the various proposals he's seen over the past week, his previous attempts have been lackluster, so to speak. Maybe Sunoo's not going to give in until he does something grand!

Or maybe he just really doesn't like Sunghoon and his friends...

For the past hour, Sunghoon and Jay and Heeseung have been busy with scattering what must be a hundred memo-notes with directions and short, sweet messages written on them in Jay's chicken scrawl all over the floors. The usual route Jungwon takes when he goes to the library on Saturdays, actually.

And Jungwon, being the perfectionist-planner he is, never deviates from schedule, so they're _pretty_ sure Jay will at least get to _try_ and pull this off.

They're at the start of the path when Sunghoon seeings Sunoo's hair, his cheeks, his beautiful eyes. Before all of that, though, he hears Sunoo's unmistakable laugh first, and Sunghoon rounds the corner to catch up to him and herd him away so that Jungwon will follow the path alone, only to slam into the boy. Very _un-_ romantically. 

He hears Heeseung's empathetic hiss, and the sound of retreating footsteps. Great. He's just been abandoned to deal with this situation alone by his bestest friends. Now what.

"Hi, Sunoo, good morning," he greets, rubbing a hand over the spot where Sunoo's skull has just met his chin. It's definitely going to bruise.

"Sunghoon ssi," Sunoo replies, gritting his teeth so hard, the older boy can actually _hear_ the grinding.

"Hi," he repeats dumbly. Behind Sunoo, he sees that Jungwon has noticed the neon pink notes on the ground and is beginning to inspect them. There's no mistaking how they're addressed and meant for him to see, because the clearest words on every one of those darned notes are the 'TO YANG JUNGWON' headings.

"I'm kind of heading somewhere, wanna move away?"

Sunghoon tries to switch on his charm, emulating his inner James Dean by leaning steeply against the wall. "The hall's wide enough for ten people, Kim Sunoo. You wanna pass, you can just skip round me..."

"Right, I'll do that then—"

Sunoo tries to sidestep him but Sunghoon catches the movement and immediately blocks him. When Sunoo glares up, hands on hips, fury clearly alight in his pretty, pretty eyes, Sunghoon accidentally lets his knees buckle in a moment of weakness.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. But are you asking out of concern? Because if that's the case, my answer's a no. Would you like to go to the nurse's office with me?" 

"No to both." Sunoo flashes him one final, angelic smile before he pushes past the taller boy to get through. On the ground, Sunghoon notes that the trail of breadcrumbs has shortened considerably—Jungwon would either already be in the library, or is _nearly_ reaching. All he has to do is stall Sunoo for another five minutes. He takes another step back and holds his arms out like a strawman. 

"Okay, no to the nurse's office. Alright, how about: would you like to go to prom with me?" Sunghoon finally blurts out.

Sunoo all but screeches, pulling back like he's just caught a whiff of something foul and festering. "Sunghoon ssi, if you've noticed, I've already turned down your efforts quite a number of times."

"But why!" he whines in protest. "Give me a reason and I'll back off!"

"Because," Sunoo exhales exasperatedly, "I'm a villain and you're a hero! We don't match!"

"We can start matching! I could conform myself into a more... _villainy_ aesthetic. How do you feel about chains and green and black clothes?"

Sunoo gestures down to the rest of his look. "Do I _look_ like I wear any of those?"

"I'm saying you would look good in those."

"Thanks, but I don't need to live in your head any more than I already do. Now stop thinking about it and let me pass."

"Give me another reason, or-or an elaboration on your last one." Sunghoon switches on the puppy eyes, and surprisingly, Sunoo caves in much more easily than he'd expected.

"You guys are too nice. And not in a good way, too. You're always pretending like your moral compass is right and everyone else is wrong, and you walk all over people like _us_ because we're never the stars of some fairytale bullshit like you guys. Look, every time you guys are nice to us, it feels like charity. And you know what—now that we're on the topic, why are you guys always so damn mean for?" he questions, like it's suddenly Sunghoon's interrogation.

He shrugs. "Us, mean? You're the one who's always talking about how my hair's a bird nest."

"True."

"And how I look like those balloon thingies at villainfairs."

"Yes, I wasn't lying about that..."

"And you're always asking me to go away."

"Then why do you even stay?" Sunoo challenges, crossing his arms. "You said it yourself—I'm unreasonably mean to you."

"Because I like your meanness! There's a tenderness to your smile when you're not smiling at me."

Sunoo gives him a long look, raising his eyebrows like he's thinking to himself, _this motherfucker's insane._ "I think you should hear the second sentence yourself, Sunghoon ssi."

"Okay, but it makes me want to know you more, and I really want to take you to prom. Or I want you to take me to prom... I'm not sure which one sounds better. I don't care, s'long as the bottom line is that I want to be at—I want to _exist_ —no that's not right either... I want to go to prom with you."

"Sunghoon ssi, I've been nothing but mean to you. It doesn't make sense that you like me this much. You know nothing about me!"

"Okay, wait, this is the moment I get to show off my Kim Sunoo trivia," Sunghoon exclaims, eyes glittering. "I know you feed those strays behind block B all the time, and you helped deliver kittens once. It's why you carry around a packet of animal feed with you all the time." Sunoo sputters, then struggles to launch into an explanation about how he isn't nice, but fails, and Sunghoon continues speaking instead, "And you know those lucky draw stickers that come with the bread from food at the cafeteria? The ones you can turn in for a chance to win a stuffed animal. I know you leave them at Huening's desk every time you get one, cause you know that he still believes in Santa."

"Santa isn't real, and all-year Santa sounds even more ridiculous..."

"But he believes in it, and you help him out. That's nice, Sunoo. I think that knowing all of these things about you, it's made me fall twice as hard... And I'm kinda really desperate to go to prom with you."

"Even after the chocolate fiasco?"

Sunghoon nods and swallows. "Even after that. Will you go to prom with me, Sunoo?"

Sunoo barely takes three seconds before he gives his final answer, "No."

[ **♪** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwlHM8TvFE4&ab_channel=NeonTrees-Topic)

Sunghoon's at a dead end. He's exhausted his list of ideas of promposals and Jay's here to rub his success in his face every other minute. It was cute at first, and now it's _not._

After the total cold shower rejection of all total cold shower rejections, Sunghoon has to tag after Sunoo with his own cloud of gloom. They walk right into Jay putting down his stupid whiteboard, last message written and all. Jungwon's leaping into his arms, the perfect height to nuzzle into Jay's neck, and the whole thing is so personal that Sunghoon has to drag himself to a bookshelf and hide it out till Jay has decided to put Jungwon down.

The elation on Jungwon's face is reflected on Jay's own, and all Sunghoon can feel is this heavy, heavy acerbity weighing down on his tastebuds. It's all he can taste on Monday morning as he's shoveling food into his mouth.

"And then I wrote, _Yang Jungwon,_ you're so pretty, it's like the moon never really goes away in my day..." Jay's saying, clear in running through all the details of the promposal with Heeseung. 

The older boy spots him sulking and wraps an arm around his shoulders, and Jay stops talking too. Great. This is the last thing he wants—for them to look at him with so much pity and put their happiness on hold just to soothe his emotions. It's not like he's _giving up_ , but he's just kinda... miserable that he's not going to be at prom with his crush of what, three years.

"Awe don't worry, Hoon," Heeseung consoles him, "we're probably all going to be seated at the same table anyway—so, you know! You'll still be seeing him."

" _If_ he decides to even go," Sunghoon mourns.

"Out of all the villains in the school, Hoon, and you really choose to ask this guy out. He's so sought-after he might actually be as popular as, I don't know... Yeontan? Anyway, all I'm saying is, Hoon, you can still go with a date," suggests Jay, and might Sunghoon add, it's a very bad suggestion.

"One that's not Kim Sunoo? I'd rather pass on the event altogether."

Heeseung shakes his head with a knowing smile and motions for him to keep eating. "Field's first period today, Sunghoon-ah. Better eat up in case you're chosen for the relay with Professor Hoshi. He's not going to go easy on you."

Breakfast is over as quickly as it begins, and as they shuffle towards the fields, attracting furtive glances from passers-by. He'd usually be worried, but he really couldn't care less today. Sunghoon can't stop punctuating this ball of melancholic sadness with a string of sighs that are five seconds apart from each other, _max._ A few steps in front of him, Heeseung and Jay keep exchanging anxiety-driven glances that he can't bother to decipher.

He decides to just let them be.

They have a tradition at this school. More like a punishment, really, with how badly everyone wants to avoid it. Once every two weeks, they have a two-hour long Field lesson with everyone in your division that needs to be kicked off by a randomly selected student that has to race along the length of the whole course laid out, unique to each week, before lighting up their very own knock-off version of the Olympic cauldron. This means he'll be able to see Sunoo, which directly leads him to his demise: the sheer humiliation he has to face from having been rejected by the boy a consequtive six times.

Were his ideas not good? Is that it? Does he prefer more grandiose methods to convey one's feelings? Sunghoon had dug around and found out that Sunoo isn't one for the theatrics, so he had decided to dial it back and confess in simpler ways. More traditional ones.

Still, the answer's a no.

"Park Sunghoon, are you dozing off in my class?"

Sunghoon blinks back into reality and the vague shape standing before him melts into one Professor Kwon. _Ah, shit. What a day._

"No, sir," he answers meekly. Just like that, the torch's unceremoniously shoved into his hands and while he considers keeping his fists clenched in an act of rebellion, he ultimately just _takes_ _it._

"I thought, since you're not dozing off, maybe you'd be more capable of starting our day off right today, yeah?"

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Sunghoon only clenches his pearly whites into two rows and nods. "Thank you for this honor, sir."

Professor Kwon, who also goes by Hoshi, for some unexplained reason, plucks at his tiger-themed track clothes and peers down at Sunghoon's plain black ones. Like he's rather disappointed. _Weird._ "Well, in any case, don't delay us any further. Park, go!"

He makes sure to turn around fully before he makes eye contact with his friends, who're giving him little finger hearts and air kisses. He rolls his eyes, then starts to search out for the start of the line, looking for an indication to know where he should begin. There are even some stray kids on the bleachers today, strangely enough. Field isn't anything that special or worth cheering on, not when it isn't being marketed that one time a year as the biggest even their school will see. For the other three-hundred-sixty days a year, it's just what it is—Field. And everyone hates getting sweaty under the glaring sun.

Sunghoon spots the start of the line and nods at Professor Kwon, flag in one hand and starter pistol in another. They count down the seconds in unison before it's sounded and Sunghoon starts racing down the course marked by a winding, continuous line of black powder.

His calves are burning, his body light and weightless. He focuses on channeling most his energy into regulating his body temperature instead, so that it's hot enough that his body's working fast enough, but not _too_ hot that it's going to send him into overdrive. The course is especially difficult today, but Sunghoon's never been one to dwell on little details like that. Life's hard enough as is—it'd be twice as difficult if he's going to sit down and reside in an endless loop of his worst moments.

Speaking of loops, _why are there so damn many today?_

Eventually, he makes it to the end with the cheering of his peers at his back, so he slows down into a jog and takes _one quick peek_ to his back. The torch in his hand is firmly rejecting his icy grip and he struggles to have it stay put in his hold.

Sunoo, to his surprise, is standing at the very front line watching with lips pursed impatiently.

Sunghoon doesn't know what it means, just turns away like a silk-eared puppy as he ascends the cement steps leading to the cauldron. He dips the torch in ever so slightly, and then the fire's catching, dancing within the iron bars curling over the black pot like the sticky fingers of a witch. There's raucous applause and someone who sounds suspiciously like Sunoo asking everyone to shut up. Still, there's another step to it. He hops back down, two steps a time, and makes it to the end of the line. The cauldron's maybe half a mile from where the course ends, and that's where he has to lower the dying flame of the torch to.

He does, and the whole line catches the flames as well, burning red and orange, so strong that their crowns almost reach Sunghoon's height. Freaked, he takes a careful step back.

"Park!" Professor Kwon's calling to him with hands cupped on either side of his mouth.

_Oh great, did I do something wrong?_

"Sir!" he answers, "do I need to start over again?" He starts lightly jogging back when he realizes that everyone's jumping to ask him to stay put. Even the ones with the megaphones on the bleachers. Confused, he halts and does as he's told. Maybe there's a huge bee hovering over him right now, that may be a threat to his puny life. Well, he deserves to be taken out with a large dosage of bee poison anyway—he's failed his promposal six times. _Six. Times._ Must be a new record.

"Park, can you even fucking read?" Sunoo shouts. He's a little shorter than the rest, but his presence is so domineering that when he steps out, the background blurs and Sunghoon's heart clenches because he thinks, realizing with a start, that he might even like this boy a little more than he thought he already did.

If that's even possible.

" _Stop staring at me and read!"_ the boy cries in exasperation, and Sunghoon looks around for a sign, a warning... _anything._ There's _nothing_ in proximity to him that can be read, and Sunghoon turns back to him, confused.

"What am I supposed to read?" he shouts back, heart thudding in his chest. He can't believe he's having an interaction with Sunoo that's lasting past two minutes today. He's changed his mind—Monday is literally the best day of the week.

Sunoo groans, stamping a foot down in frustration. He gestures to the fire, still crackling with heat and _very_ alive, feeding off of the oxygen in the air. "What do you do with fire?"

_Huh?_

Somewhere at the back of his mind, the answer comes to him in an echo. _Sunoo's a pyro._

There's always one of them on duty for Field, to make sure that the flames are well within their control and not eagerly tearing through the grassy area where all the students are gathered, like shrimp for fry.

"Take it out!" Sunoo demands, and Sunghoon doesn't even think twice before he raises his hand to shoot ice out, the cold settling over the fire with such ease, it's a beautiful moment. A wave of white mist rises from the reaction, forcing Sunghoon to close his eyes for a moment, swatting it away like _that'd_ help. When he dares crack an eye open again, the entire field's looking at him. _Sunoo's_ looking at him. Fire's extinguished, and in the same course it's been eating through, lays the evidence of Sunghoon's ability, frosting over the line, encasing some of the remaining black powder that hadn't been fed to the hungry flames.

It's then that he really steps back and _reads_ what the damned thing says, realizing why there're so many loops and jagged corners in the course today.

It reads, _prom?_

And right now, he's standing between the curled tail and the dot of the question mark.

His jaw drops, and he doesn't think his heart is working anymore. He doesn't think he's hearing its beat.

That's alright, though, because what sounds like the whole student population startings clapping their hands to what might've been the rhythm of his heartbeat before it malfunctioned and paused. There's clapping in the background, broken by wolf whistles and cheers, and holy _fuck_ Sunoo is actually stalking over to where he stands.

Even when he's all angry and worked up, Sunoo still looks like perfection in a peach-pink tracksuit, shining so brightly Sunghoon's sure that the sun is basking in Sunoo's glow and not the other way round. The other people are just part of the background, as far as Sugnhoon's concerned. I mean, _look at Sunoo—_ he's the single flower in a barren meadow of unremarkable grass—sorry, Jay and Heeseung. But in Sunghoon's eyes, Sunoo's radiant beauty is simply unmatched. The anticipation draws a smile to Sunghoon's lips, pumping in his veins like a sugar shot.

Sunoo's still scowling, though. "One second later if you hadn't extinguished it I would've turned back, you know. Changed my mind. Proms are dumb."

"You sound a lot like Heeseung," Sunghoon remarks. "And you wouldn't have... what if the flames escape?"

"That's why you're lucky, Park Sunghoon. The whole school would've burned down if you didn't say yes."

"What a villain," Sunghoon muses, hearts exploding in his eyes. "But, when did I ever say yes?"

"You're welcome to say no—"

" _Yes!"_ Sunghoon cries, hand latching out to Sunoo, forearm first, then slides down to his soft hands. "It's a yes. Holy crap."

There's a fraction of a moment where Sunoo's lips curl into the smirk of a satisfied, lazy cat before his eyes follow. Sunghoon's _very_ glad that the boy has long ditched his good boy image. He's way more beautiful when the smiles he gives reach his eyes with a sort of veracious sincerity that can't be faked, even through hours of practice.

"Yeah, I thought you'd say so."

"What if I'd said no?"

"I told you—school would've burned down."

"Pure evil," Sunghoon praises, shaking his head in awe.

"You talk too much. You would fail Catchy Catchphrases if I were the professor."

"But—"

Sunoo's hands cup his face so hard, it might even be a smack, and he pulls Sunghoon's head down closer to his. Even in the split second before their lips actually touch, every nerve in Sunghoon's body and brain is electrified, like watching the lights at Times Square light up for the first time in Christmas season. It's the anticipation of being kissed that has Sunghoon completely melting under Sunoo's touch, making his joy something that is _definitely,_ beyond words, truly tangible in his hands.

They're kissing—his lips are touching Sunoo's.

Sunoo's the sun, spark-plugs, fireworks in his veins.

He can't believe kissing Sunoo in real life is ten times better than what he'd imagined it would be like in his head, time and time again.

When they pull apart, Sunoo's smirk has grown wider, his own excitement as palpable in the sparking air as Sunghoon's own.

He still can't believe—

"Stop smiling so hard, Park, you look like an idiot."

To his ears, it sounds like _I really like you._

There's not a single thing Sunoo could say that won't sound like sweet talk to him.

[ **♪** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygmZ8hZPix8&ab_channel=SaintMotel)

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY SUNSUN DAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
> 
> my twitter is @ricecookerym and https://curiouscat.qa/ricecookerym is my curious cat
> 
> i love you all, have a great day!


End file.
